What more can be done? There are already a myriad of technologies and best practices to help organizations act quickly on up-to-the-minute information. However, as more organizations adopt these solutions, previously cutting-edge technologies quickly become a baseline cost of doing business. The most responsive and competitive companies now need more if they are to satisfy their customers and stay ahead of the competition.

Part of the problem is that organizations are able to act on up-to-the-minute information only in so far as the possible action is already built into the process. Greater process flexibility is needed if these organizations are to become truly responsive — to move from reactive to predictive. It is imperative to shift from inherently static processes — processes that are discoverable and understandable, evolving relatively slowly over time — to processes that are complex, dynamic, and predictive — actually evolving during execution to meet previously unknown requirements.

Achieving such a monumental shift requires a new approach to building business processes: goal-oriented business process management.